Nonprofit executive pay up 7.3% from last year: 4 findings

Executive pay in the nonprofit sector increased 7.3 percent on average when compared to last year, according to a Total Compensation Solutions survey.

TCS calculated increase percentages using matched sample data from 2016-17. The report included 901 organizations in the nonprofit sector and 79 job titles. To compare the compensation data, the report also provided peer groups for five geographic regions, five nonprofit industry types and five operating budget groups.

Here are four findings from the survey.

1. When compared to other industry sub-sectors in the survey, membership organizations, or nonprofits that grant members specific rights to participate in the organization's internal affairs, had the highest median base salaries for 30 percent of the job titles.

2. Health and welfare/education organizations had the highest median base salaries in 23 percent of the job titles.

3. The Western region of the U.S. had the highest median base salaries for 38 percent of the job titles when compared to the other regions of the country and the Northeast region had the highest median base salaries for 26 percent of the job titles.

4. The survey found the strongest indicator of compensation was the size of the operating budget. Seventy-four percent of the positions in the survey had the highest median base salaries when in the largest operating budget cut, which equaled more than $50 million.